


Chapter 15

by airdeari



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 02:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9363641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airdeari/pseuds/airdeari
Summary: Aoi booked out rooms in a nearby hotel for everyone after the Decision Game and the Dcom experiment came to a close. Junpei and Akane walk in together after a long, long day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in 40 minutes instead of sleeping because i had too many feelings. sorry if there are typos.

Though her heels were shallow, the vaulted ceiling of the sleepy lobby caught the clicks of her steps and rolled them around in the stillness. It was not a conscious choice when Junpei fell behind her, watching the warmth of the chandelier illuminate her perfect posture, her slim waist and gentle curves, her long, soft hair.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled when she saw he was still with her.

They gave their names to concierge, who told Akane that her brother was already checked in as she handed over the key. She had a smile for Junpei, a smile that set him at ease for the first time in time he could not possibly tally up end-to-end. Right now, he was an ordinary civilian, about to settle into a plushy mattress with too many pillows.

And Akane Kurashiki kept looking over her shoulder at him and smiling.

The elevator took a few seconds to arrive after she pressed the call button. A few seconds was all it took for Akane to break out of her vacant gaze with a sudden smirk. With a flush in his face, Junpei  tried not to laugh, because he knew exactly what she was smiling about. She caught a glimpse of his face and giggled, and then he snickered, and then they were holding their hands over their mouths and slamming the door-close button with desperation until they could finally burst out laughing.

“You were screwing with me!” Junpei protested. “You did it on purpose!”

“I _still_ can’t believe you, Jumpy,” Akane laughed, her cheeks rosy, her eyes sparkling, her body real and alive and _here_.

“So what’s—what’s your floor?” he asked, scratching his head as he punched in the 4 button for himself.

“O-oh.”

She lost her smile quite quickly, though the color in her face took longer to fade. Her eyes fell to the ground as she twisted the keycard around in her hands too quickly to be reading the room number written on the envelope.

The elevator started to move. “Akane?” Junpei asked.

“N-no, it’s also four.”

“Oh. Alright.”

She remained frozen in place for the duration of the ascent, her stare fixed on the ground in front of the toes now pointing towards each other. She did not move when the elevator gave a ding and Junpei covered the edge of the door with a hand to hold it open.

“You okay, Akane?” Junpei asked.

“Oh, nothing!” She lifted her head with a bright smile. “Just tired, that’s all.”

Her fingers were curling and fidgeting at her sides as she walked slowly, reading the numbers on every door. Junpei could not stop watching her slender hands, her shining, oval nails. His heart was throbbing just thinking about reaching for her arm, sliding his fingers down the cables of her sweater sleeve, and holding her hand in his.

He almost crashed into her when she stopped and peered up at the door on the right. Junpei blinked at the 411 engraved in the brass. “Oh, uh, that’s me,” he realized.

Akane nodded, folding her fingers together in front of her breastbone.

Junpei tried the key in the door. The LED flashed green, and the lock made an all-too satisfying click. The door gave way when he turned the handle and pushed.

He glanced back at Akane, who stood watching still. He stared too long, getting lost in her violet eyes, imagining the way her cheek would feel under his lips, how her soft, little body felt in his arms—

“Good night,” he said, barely a whisper, and he turned into his room.

“Can I come back?”

He stopped on a dime, but it took a while for him to turn around. Her eyes were the same, but now he realized they were pleading.

“I’ll… I’ll say good night to my brother,” she said, “and then… can I come back here?”

He was an ordinary civilian, about to settle into a plushy mattress with too many pillows, right beside the love of his life.

His _fiancée._

“Yeah,” he breathed.

Her face melted with joy. “Can I borrow your key?”

He took a while to remember he was holding it, and that she needed it, but eventually his hands fumbled it over to her. Her little shoes clicked down the hallway at a rapid pace, ponytail bouncing against her back.

Junpei did not remember how he settled into his plushy mattress, but he ended up there, shoes still on, staring at the ceiling. He did not know how he ended up here at all. He was alive. Akane Kurashiki was alive. Akane Kurashiki was alive, and she was wearing the ring he had given her, because she wanted to marry him someday. She wanted to live the rest of her life with him. She was real and she was here and she was coming back to be beside him.

Just the thought of it was overwhelming enough on its own. When he heard the slide of a card and a click from the door, he stood up and opened his arms, dying for something to touch. When she fell into his chest, she was smiling giddily, but he was crying.

“Junpei?” she asked when she felt him shudder.

“I’m fine,” he croaked. “Really, I’m—I’m…”

She rubbed her warm hand up and down his back. She was perfect. She was everything. If he held her tight enough, maybe she would know how much she meant to him.

 


End file.
